Following last year’s release of DEATH IN THE FAMILY, Tessa Wegert returns with THE DEAD SEASON, her second book featuring protagonist Shana Merchant, a bright and creative detective with a brutal past.

When readers last saw Shana, she had taken a detective job in Clayton, a sleepy upstate New York town, joined by her fiancé, a heralded psychologist. Along with fellow investigator Tim Wellington, Shana solved a locked-room case involving a highly dysfunctional wealthy family, a deserted island and, of course, murder. But Shana, who not long before barely survived an abduction by Blake Bram, a twisted serial killer, made several errors in her last case, all caused by her own PTSD and unexplored trauma. Since solving her first case in New York, she has taken leave from the force to dump her controlling fiancé and focus on her own healing. Unfortunately, her former abductor has other plans.

The Shana we meet at the start of THE DEAD SEASON is like a new woman in many ways: she no longer looks over her shoulder in fear, has stopped letting her ex control her, and is ready to approach the police force with a new esteem. She understands now that any failure on her part to be her best self can harm not only herself, but also her partner and, most importantly, any victims she sets out to help. Armed with therapy and a new round of self-defense courses, Shana is bracing herself for a return to the work she loves when she learns that a skeleton has been found in her hometown of Swanton, Vermont: her long-missing uncle.

"Once again, Wegert pens a deliciously twisty plot reminiscent of an Agatha Christie mystery.... Much like Bram, the world is nowhere near done with Shana Merchant, and I look forward to seeing where Wegert takes her next."

Swanton is a complicated place. A small town fueled by gossip and rumors, it is where Shana’s face was scarred for life and where Bram was born and raised, right alongside a young Shana. Bram was never found after he killed the police officer looking for Shana and fled, but the fact that he left her alive means that he is not done toying with her. And despite her refusal to admit it, she knows exactly who he is.

As Shana returns to Swanton to help her family deal with the fallout of her uncle’s murder, a young boy named Trey goes missing from Clayton, dividing Shana’s focus between her hometown and her new home. When she finds a taped-up sign with her uncle’s photo juxtaposed against an image of the missing boy and the words “wanna play?” written on the back, she knows that Bram is back for her. Tim is leading the investigation into Trey’s whereabouts, and Shana must now convince him that the boy's disappearance is tied to her and her connection with Bram.

Wegert employs a Sherlock Holmes-like cat-and-mouse narrative, with Bram teasing Shana out of emotional retirement and setting her ability to solve the case of her uncle’s murder against his potential releasing of Trey. She knows there will be blood on her hands if she cannot solve both cases, but Swanton holds more secrets than just the identity of her uncle’s killer. With more of Shana’s past coming to light and her connection to Bram finally revealed, she embarks on a breakneck journey for the truth.

Once again, Wegert pens a deliciously twisty plot reminiscent of an Agatha Christie mystery. But where DEATH IN THE FAMILY was a perfect locked-room whodunit, THE DEAD SEASON delves much deeper into not only Shana’s background but also her overarching search for Bram. Unlike before, though, she is no longer focused only on hunting for him...she is now letting him hunt her. Wegert reveals Bram’s identity earlier than I had anticipated, but it is no less shocking or explosive, as it adds a whole new layer to Shana’s abduction. But with Bram’s kidnapping of Trey adding the potential for fresh blood to their cat-and-mouse game, the stakes are upped and the question of who is really after who becomes hazy. It is never quite clear who has the upper hand.

While THE DEAD SEASON was certainly compelling, and I feel that Shana’s character development will be essential to future installments, Wegert spreads herself a bit thin by stacking one mystery against another. A missing child is horrific in any situation, yet I found myself caring much more about Tessa’s murdered uncle, with the plot heavily weighted with details of his case rather than Trey’s. I loved learning more about Shana’s past and motivations, and Wegert’s handling of her PTSD was exemplary in its compassion. But as an author, Wegert is much stronger when her mystery is more focused and contained, as it was in DEATH IN THE FAMILY.

Though the cases were tied together by Bram, this chapter in Shana’s story felt more like a stepping stone to what promises to be an even more thrilling third installment, which I will be first in line to buy. Much like Bram, the world is nowhere near done with Shana Merchant, and I look forward to seeing where Wegert takes her next.